Castle Kindergarten

Castle Kindergarten Cheltenham House, Cheltenham Road, Sunderland SR5 3QH

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Inspection date 15 March 2019 Previous inspection date Not applicable

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This inspection: Good 2

Previous inspection: Not applicable Effectiveness of leadership and management Good 2 Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good 2 Personal development, behaviour and welfare Good 2 Outcomes for children Good 2

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This provision is good

n Teaching is consistently good. Staff have a thorough knowledge of children's interests and use these effectively to prepare the environment with exciting experiences. All children make good progress in relation to their starting points in learning and are enthusiastic to participate in activities. n Babies thrive in the nurturing and caring environment with their key person. They have established individual routines and secure bonds with staff. This has a positive impact on the babies' emotional well-being and their behaviour is very positive. n Staff work hard to promote children's personal, social and emotional development. Children have opportunities to share information with their friends about the times spent with their family. They celebrate personal achievements through the 'buddy bear' activity. Children show good levels of self-confidence and high levels of self-esteem. n Staff have developed excellent links with other professionals, including teachers and

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This provision is good

special educational needs support workers. This helps them to meet children's individual needs and promote inclusion. n The manager and leadership team provide support to staff to help them understand their roles to work with children. Staff are well qualified and access a range of training to enhance their skills and meet children's learning needs. n Staff gather feedback from children to help them reflect on their practice and make continual improvements. Children have left stickers on the 'wow tree' stating how their key person 'listens to me and plays with me'. n Staff do not provide older children with choices about the foods they would like to have on their plate at lunchtime. This means that some children are unwilling to try different foods and do not have the opportunity to make healthy choices. n The manager has not fully embedded new systems to record assessments of children's progress. This means some children's recorded information is unclear and inconsistent.

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What the setting needs to do to improve further

To further improve the quality of the early years provision the provider should:

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What the setting needs to do to improve further

n provide children with choices at mealtimes, particularly lunch, to help them develop their understanding of healthy choices and different tastes n enhance the quality of assessments and embed new systems to ensure that the information provided about children's progress is clear, precise and consistent.

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What the setting needs to do to improve further

Inspection activities n The inspector observed the quality of teaching during activities indoors and outdoors and assessed the impact this has on children's learning. n The inspector spoke to the children and staff throughout the inspection. n The inspector completed joint observations with the nursery manager. n The inspector held a meeting with the nursery manager and director. She looked at relevant documentation, such as the nursery's policies, children's learning books and evidence of the suitability of staff working in the nursery. n The inspector viewed written feedback from parents, spoke to a small number of parents during the inspection and took account of their views.

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is good

The manager has high expectations of staff and supports them to provide good-quality care and learning for children. For example, staff have regular supervisory sessions and take part in peer observations to reflect on their practice. This has had a positive impact on children's level of engagement. The manager uses tracking and monitoring systems to identify delay in some children's speech and language development. She has used funding effectively to access Makaton training to help staff support their key children and close gaps in their learning. Safeguarding is effective. The manager has robust recruitment procedures in place to verify staff's suitability to work with children. Staff know what to do if they are concerned about children's welfare and there are clear procedures to follow if they are unhappy with their colleagues' practice. Staff risk assess the indoor and outdoor areas to ensure that they are suitable to be used by children.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment is good

Staff help children to make good progress and use 'in the moment' planning to follow children's lead. Children make choices about their learning and show good levels of concentration as they develop their own ideas. For example, older children enjoy the challenge of building ramps to roll the balls outdoors. Staff respond when children use tunnels rather than slides and help children develop their mathematical language as they model words, such as 'up', 'down', 'top' and 'bottom'. During story sessions, children learn how to tell the time and sit together in a large group. Young children enjoy exploring creatively with glue and craft materials. Staff encourage children to develop their language as they clearly model words and short sentences, encouraging them to describe what they create. Staff who work with babies gather plentiful information from parents about babies' stages of development when they start. They use this to create

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment is good

their baseline assessments and share daily information about babies' experiences.

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Personal development, behaviour and welfare are good

Staff are kind, caring and responsive towards children. They understand children's care needs effectively and provide comfort when children become tired or upset. For example, babies show they are content as they fall asleep in staff's arms. Young children come into the setting happy and wave goodbye to their parents. Settling-in procedures are effective. Staff help children to build their independence and, overall, promote their good health. For example, children sit together at the table for snack, begin to pour their own drinks and chatter to each other as they enjoy their fruit. Staff ensure that children have access to outdoor play and exercise on a daily basis. They have recently developed the garden to reflect children's interests in imaginative play and story sessions.

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Outcomes for children are good

Overall, children make good progress in relation to their starting points, including those children who speak English as an additional language and children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. Older children develop the skills they need to start school. Babies explore with interest and show emerging confidence in new social situations. Young children benefit from clearly modelled language during songs by experienced and enthusiastic staff. This helps children to be motivated to learn.

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Setting details

Unique reference number EY546318 Local authority Sunderland Inspection number 10099877 Type of provision Childcare on non-domestic premises

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Registers

Early Years Register, Compulsory Childcare Register, Voluntary Childcare Register Day care type Full day care Age range of children 0 - 5 Total number of places 38 Number of children on roll 57 Name of registered person Castle Kindergarten Limited

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reference number

Date of previous inspection Not applicable Telephone number 0191 5480170

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reference number

Castle Kindergarten registered in 2017. It is situated in the Hylton Castle area of Sunderland. The setting operates Monday to Friday from 7.30am until 6pm. The setting is closed on bank holidays, during the week between Christmas and New Year and also for one week at the end of August. The setting employs seven members of childcare staff, all of whom hold childcare qualifications at level 3, including the manager. A member of staff also holds qualified teacher status and a further member of staff has early years professional status. The setting provides funded early education places for two-, three- and four-year-old children.

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This inspection was carried out by Ofsted under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 on the quality and standards of provision that is registered on the Early Years Register. The registered person must ensure that this provision complies with the statutory framework for children's learning, development and care, known as the early years foundation stage.

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procedures set out in the guidance Complaints procedure: raising concerns and making complaints about Ofsted, which is available from Ofsted's website: www.ofsted.gov.uk . If you would like Ofsted to send you a copy of the guidance, please telephone 0300 123 4234, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk . achieve excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages. It regulates and inspects childcare and children's social care, and inspects the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, further education and skills, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It assesses council children's services, and inspects services for looked after children, safeguarding and child protection.

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